Improvement in car-couplings



PATENT OFFICE.'

l GEORGE HUDSON, OF` PEWEE VALLEY, KENTUCKY.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-COUPLINGS'.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 186,568, dated January23, 1877; application filed October 17, 1876. l

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. HUDSON, of Pewee Valley, inthe county ofOldham and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Car-Couplings, of which the following is a specification In theannexed drawings, making a part of this specification, Figure l. is aperspective view, showing the end of a. car with a draw-bar containingmy improvements attached. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of thedraw-head and link. Fig. 3 is aperspective view ofthe pin and shaft forsecuring it.

The same letters are employed in all the figures in the indication ofthe sa me parts.

A is the chambered draw-head, which has an inclined under jaw, A', tothrow up and afterward engage the hook-headed link. A plate, B, pivotedat the inner end, lies in the lchamber behind the jaw A, and coverstbepoint of the vertical pin E. Its front end extends to jaw A', and whenthe pin E is raised, whatever may be the position of the link G in thechamber A, the plate will engage it and lift the hook of the link G2clear of thejaw A'.

A gravitation-frame, C, surrounds the end ofthe draw-head, confined byflanges, which allow it free vertical play as it is lifted by thecoupling or by hand, and falls by gravity. It has a round hole in themiddle of its top, to receive the pin D, which may be insertedforremoved, while a lower pin,`E, is permanently secured to the bottom ofthe frame, and passes up through a hole in the bottom ofthe draw-head,lifting the plate B `when the frame is raised, and disengaging thehook-headed link G from the jaw A'.

The pin D may be adjusted in the gravitation-frame bymeansof the shaftF, actuated by the crank F', which passes through the upper part of theframe, and has a attened part cut away to correspond with theindentations D' in the pin.

When the crank is vertical the pin may be withdrawn; in other positionsof the crank the pin will be engaged by 'the shaft when received in theindentation D'.

.The coupling G is hook-headed at G2, to engage the jaw A', and has arecess in top at G1, to receive the end ofthe pin D.

When the cars come together, the beveled end of the coupling "strikingagainst the inclined face of jaw A', the point of the coupling passingunder the end of the pin, raised, as shown in Figs. l and 2, `by theshaft engaging the lower notch D', the piu, with the frame C, will beraised until the pin, riding over the coupling, falls into the recess G1by gravity, coupling the cars.

Should `a link be used for a coupling, the pin D should be dropped, sothat the shaft F may engage the upper notch, allowing the pin todescend, so as to get a bracing at the lower end against the jaw A'.

To disengage the pin from the coupling or link, the chain H is extendedfrom the gravitation-frame to a crank, I, on top of the car, or a crank,K, on the end, which may be operated from either side. By moving thecrank the frame can be raised and the link Vfreed without the necessityof anyone getting between the cars.

What I'claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The combination of the draw-head A A', gravitation fra-me G,pin D,and hook-headed and recessed link G G1 G2, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with the draw-head AA' i and hook-headed coupling, theplate B and pin E, attached to the gravitation-frame carrying pin D,substantially as set forth.

3. In combination with the gravitationframe O, the pin D, adjustablyattached there- .to by the shaft F, so as to adapt it to operate withdifferent couplings, substantially as set forth.

4. In combination with the draw-head, the gravitation-frame C, pins Dand E., `coupling G, jaw A', and plate B, and link and chain,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

THos. K. MGGHEEE, HENRY BEoKEE.

